Wednesday 04/30/14

Though few efforts have been made on the federal level to reform the Endangered Species Act, one western farm group is scheduled to release a white paper in May looking at the need for reform in light of mounting water supply challenges.

The Family Farm Alliance announced in its April newsletter that it continues to push for a need to reform the ESA.

The alliance said in the newsletter that it hopes to continue to build momentum from a federal working group that held meetings in February. That group concluded that the law "while well-intentioned from the beginning, must be updated and modernized to ensure its success where it matters most: outside of the courtroom and on the ground."

Alliance Executive Director Dan Keppen said in a statement, "The Family Farm Alliance believes the ESA can and should be made to work for both imperiled species and people. We appreciate and support the hard work and efforts of the ESA working group. Now it is time to consider the group's recommendations for modernizing and improving the Endangered Species Act."

The alliance said it believes the working group report is a "realistic assessment" of what many western ag groups have seen first-hand for more than 10 years -- "The ESA is broken and needs to be fixed. Fewer than 2% of the species ever listed have come off the list, and the failures under the law far outstrip the successes. Meanwhile, the economic and sociologic impacts of the ESA have been dramatic."

The white paper is expected to address what the alliance said in its newsletter are several controversial questions, including:

-Should the ESA, and our approach to species protection recognize that some species can't and don't really need to be saved? Many more species have gone extinct than now exist; is it possible or even prudent to try and stop extinction of every species out there?

-If saving species is of national importance should the taxpayers at large pay the associated costs, and should those costs be publicly displayed so the taxpayers can see where their money is being spent?

-Should we be required to consider all factors that affect a listed species before developing a recovery plan or imposing restrictions, and not just target one or two?

"Nobody is seriously arguing for an outright repeal of the ESA without replacing it," alliance attorney Gary Sawyers said in a statement.

"There is no reason why we should not be able to have an open and candid discussion about fixing the law without hearing that any proposed ESA amendment is dead on arrival or is the 'third rail' in Congress."

On March 27 the House Natural Resources Committee introduced four bills designed to improve the ESA. The committee held a hearing on the proposals April 8.

The bills include:

-H.R.4315, the 21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act. The bill would require data used by federal agencies for ESA listing decisions to be made publicly available and accessible online.

-H.R. 4316, Endangered Species Recovery Transparency Act that would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to track, report to Congress, and make available online: 1) funds expended to respond to ESA lawsuits; 2) the number of employees dedicated to litigation; and 3) attorneys fees awarded in the course of ESA litigation and settlement agreements.

-H.R. 4317, State, Tribal, and Local Species Transparency and Recovery Act would require the federal government to disclose to affected states all data used prior to any ESA listing decisions and require the best-available scientific data be used.

-H.R. 4318, Endangered Species Litigation Reasonableness Act to prioritize resources used for species protection and place caps on attorney's fees.

Tue Mar 31, 2015 06:52 AM CDTEarlier this month, the Environmental Working Group's farm program skeptics tried their hand at a familiar game ??? deconstructing the many variables of the new programs, including some that are not yet implemented, and estimating their likely cost. The EWG came up with some big numbers, and were hooted at by Politico reporter David Rogers, who said they were unreasonably high.

Fri Mar 27, 2015 02:03 PM CDTA number of environmental groups are pressing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider in its review of glyphosate the conclusion reached by an international group this past week that there is a "probable" link to cancer.

Thu Mar 26, 2015 03:37 PM CDTWill USDA stick with the March 31 deadline for farmers serving notice on their farm-program intentions? And for those producers who were early birds and certain of their intentions, do their early projections still hold for Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage payment models?

Mon Mar 23, 2015 06:24 AM CDTDairy exporters in Australia, New Zealand and the United States last week called on their respective trade and agriculture officials to make every effort to significantly increase their access to Canada's market as they continue discussions aimed at concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.

Tue Mar 17, 2015 09:30 PM CDTMore than 140 groups signed onto a letter by the Agriculture Workforce Coalition opposing a bill spurred by the House Judiciary Committee to require all employers to use E-Verify for workers.

Mon Mar 16, 2015 03:19 PM CDTA set of new reports from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show mixed results in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York when it comes to reducing nutrients runoff in the Chesapeake Bay.

Fri Mar 13, 2015 09:09 PM CDTThe Kansas Department of Agriculture reported Friday afternoon that samples from a backyard flock of chickens and ducks had come back with a positive result of H2N2 avian influenza.

Fri Mar 13, 2015 03:41 PM CDTAt the National Farmers Union annual meeting on Monday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will try to tell a group of reluctant farmers that NFU should reverse its opposition to Trade Promotion Authority. But a bigger question is whether the White House can still sell TPA to a resistant Congress.

Wed Mar 11, 2015 09:18 PM CDTThe American Farm Bureau issued a friend-of-the-court brief for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals with Farm Bureau arguing that California's state law regulating the size of egg cages is unconstitutional.

Tue Mar 10, 2015 01:02 PM CDTFormer California Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura on Monday explained the concept of climate-smart agriculture during a panel discussion other agricultural groups from around the world gathered at the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture.

Sun Mar 8, 2015 09:09 AM CDTWhile farm organizations may favor a comprehensive immigration overhaul, Republican presidential contenders took some differing stances on how to deal with immigration, an issue that continues to divide the GOP given the battles with President Barack Obama over his executive actions.

Sat Mar 7, 2015 12:58 PM CSTJeb Bush said crop insurance was critical to Florida producers when he was governor. He pointed to various hurricanes as well as crop diseases such as citrus greening. "The crop-insurance industry creates a stability that makes it possible in very volatile kinds of situations for farmers to be able to be successful."

Sat Mar 7, 2015 10:14 AM CSTThe Iowa skies looked beautiful Saturday morning as roughly 900 or so people opted to forego the best weather in months to attend the Iowa Ag Summit throughout the day at the Iowa State Fair.

Wed Mar 4, 2015 04:36 PM CSTSupporters of renewable energy from agriculture want to see Republican presidential candidates to declare their support for renewables, or at least recognize the role of renewable energy in the rural economy.

Tue Mar 3, 2015 02:09 PM CSTIowa businessman Bruce Rastetter put together the Iowa Agriculture Summit for Saturday with a lineup of confirmed speakers oriented heavily around Republican presidential candidates. The ag summit is expected to draw 900 Iowans as well as national media to cover the candidates and event.

Thu Feb 26, 2015 09:05 AM CSTFarm states are looking at a variety of options to generate revenue. Here are a couple of recent examples as Iowa and Kansas seek to address infrastructure or budget holes.

Wed Feb 25, 2015 08:58 AM CSTFormer Rep. Tom Latham, a Republican from Iowa, told a room of journalists, bloggers and public-relations staff late Tuesday afternoon that it would be a bad idea to reopen any aspect of the farm bill.